4:16 and 5:1.  This is sweet language, and is expressive of the purity of the Christian heart, where God dwells, and where he walks in the gentleness of his Spirit, delighting himself in the tender Christian graces that are budding and blooming all along the peaceful avenues of the soul.  Like as the gentle south wind blows upon the flowers of the garden and scatters the fragrance; so the Spirit of God fans the heavenly graces implanted in the heart, and a fragrance flows out of the Christian life, awaking admiration in the minds of all who come into its presence.

The trees that were pleasant to the sight and good for food in the literal garden of Eden symbolize the graces of the regenerated heart, which are lovely to behold, which feed the souls of those who look upon your noble Christian walk, and which become a “tree of life” to the desert hearts of men.  In the garden of the Lord blooms the rose of Sharon and the lily-of-the-valley.  These are beautiful emblems of the Christ-life in the Christian soul.  The river which flowed through Eden’s literal garden represents the deep, broad river of peace which flows in the heart which has tasted of redeeming love.

A young heart filled with the mild, meek spirit of Christ, and a young life laden in rich profusion with kind words, generous deeds, and gentle, modest ways, is the most beautiful object that ever graced this mundane sphere.  Angels look down and marvel, and throughout all heaven is awakened songs of joy and praise.  It is your privilege to be filled with Jesus now; to be clothed in white and walk in purity.  It is also your privilege as you journey down life’s way to grow more kindly; to be more and more like Jesus; for the sweet graces of heaven to bloom more beautifully in your heart and life; and the beauty of your young Christian life to give way to more beauteous ripened age.  If you attend to all Christian duties and live in prayer and devotion to God, your soul will become more and more weighted down with the riches of heaven, and, looking out through the casement, your soul will hail with joy the convoy that has come to bear it to its home of eternal rest.

The Savior in speaking of himself said, “I am the vine,” and in speaking of Christians he said, “Ye are the branches,” and speaking of God he said, “My Father is the husbandman.”  This very clearly and strikingly illustrates the duty of a Christian, and the position he occupies.  Christians sustain the same relation to Christ that the branches do to the vine.  As the branch receives life through the vine and bears fruit, so the Christian receives life through Christ and bears fruit.  The object of fruit bearing is the glory of God.  You should be desirous of bearing as great an abundance of fruit as possible, and do all you can to increase your fruitfulness, since “herein is God glorified, that you bear much fruit.”